Going Supernova
by Selte H. Ryor
Summary: "Supernovae can be triggered by the sudden reignition of nuclear fusion in a degenerate star or by the collapse of the core of a massive star. A degenerate white dwarf may accumulate sufficient material from a companion, either through accretion or via a merger, to raise its core temperature, ignite carbon fusion, and trigger runaway nuclear fusion, completely disrupting the star."
1. Shall we begin?

A/N: This is currently a work in progress, and probably will be for a while. In my head it's shaping up to be a slow-build Kirk/Spock post-STID story. I'm giving it an M rating just to be safe, because I don't know what will come up in later chapters. Many thanks to sherlockian-of-the-shire on tumblr for her feedback and suggestions!

* * *

Spock had never met a human this volatile, yet this compelling. Captain Kirk was an enigma.

Yes, Nyota Uhura was a satisfactory romantic partner, as well as a supremely intellectual woman and competent communications officer, but she did not possess the almost brutal energy that Spock had observed in his commanding officer. She certainly did not have his impulsiveness. His mother had been very similar to Nyota in many ways, and different from Kirk in about as many, yet Spock believed his mother would have liked his Captain. They shared a certain disinclination towards following the rules, which had certainly contributed to stress in both relationships, but they were exceptionally loving and fiercely loyal people. Spock sighed. It was rather unfortunate that it had taken him this long to understand why he felt drawn to his Captain, heedless of personal and professional differences, since they had disobeyed direct orders from Starfleet and would most likely be demoted, as well as divided for the second time. Also detrimental to the development of this relationship, the importance of which he had so recently discovered, was the simple fact that Jim, his Captain- dare he call him his friend?- was dying, and there was nothing Spock could do to change it.

The wish to change the past was illogical and very human; however, Spock was coming to realize that emotions were rarely logical, and the death of his mother had made him susceptible to the onset of emotions he had previously unaware he was capable of experiencing. Grief, sorrow, and immense guilt, yet also love, joy, and peace- it was not Vulcan, it was human, but Earth was the only home he had left after Nero. If Spock could change the past, he would have listened to then-Cadet Kirk the first time the human had spoken on the bridge of the Federation's flagship. Maybe then his mother would still be alive. He would have spent more time with his mother while he was growing up. He would have attempted more social interaction as a cadet at Starfleet Academy. He would have spent more time with Jim over the past six months. After all, it is important for the Captain and First Officer to function as a cohesive unit in order to ensure the safety of the ship and its crew, and fostering such a connection requires the building of trust. His interest in his Captain was purely professional.

Spock sighed again, a purely human action, but apt for his current mood. He had been telling himself since he began at Starfleet Academy that Vulcans do not have casual friendships with humans, especially not with their superiors, but Captain Kirk had tried at every opportunity to instigate a friendship with him, and now he was compelled to discover what a relationship with this man could be. His alternate self had mentioned a friendship that would define them both. Spock had yet to see that manifest itself in a recognizable manner; however, Kirk's continued efforts were not without results. Spock had found himself gradually accepting Kirk's concern and friendship, the same way he found himself accepting the unorthodox, if effective, way the Captain commanded the ship. The beginnings of a definitive relationship were in sight.

Then all hell had broken loose.


	2. You think your world is safe

They had discovered Nibiru and Kirk had decided to abandon protocol in the favor of attempting to save the life of an entire civilization. Spock had, reluctantly, gone along with his Captain, seeing that an entire species would be wiped out otherwise, but he had made a valiant effort to prevent the natives of the planet from seeing the Enterprise or the shuttle because of the Prime Directive. Then he became trapped inside the volcano, with no way out save death. Spock had welcomed death, to some degree; he still believed he should have perished with his planet and his mother. Captain Kirk, however, had broken the Prime Directive in order to rescue Spock, an action whose motivations he was just now beginning to understand, and Nyota had been furious with him for accepting death. Next had come the disastrous meeting with Admiral Pike, and the demotion of Kirk, as well as his own reassignment, which was followed exceptionally closely by Khan's attack on the Starfleet base and Admiral Pike's death, leading to the desperate mission to Kronos to find John Harrison.

Spock looked out the window of the Starfleet hospital. So much had happened in such a short amount of time. John Harrison was actually a genetically engineered superhuman named Khan, brought back from stasis by Admiral Marcus, who had attempted to destroy the Enterprise after using its crew, namely its Captain, to achieve his own goals. Spock's counterpart had warned him about the danger of Khan, and how he had metaphorically "dodged a bullet" with this man but at a great cost, but Spock had been determined to win the fight with ship and crew intact. He had very nearly failed; in fact, there was still the possibility of failure, but he no longer had control over the situation.

Captain Kirk was hovering between life and death.

They had destroyed the Vengeance, which in turn had destroyed part of San Francisco, but the Enterprise had still been without power, and unknown to everyone but Scotty Kirk had decided to fix the issue himself, since it could not be done remotely. A misalignment in the heads of the warp core had caused their loss of power, and once it was fixed the ship had been saved; however, the radiation released when the warp core had reengaged had resulted in his Captain suffering from radiation poisoning. There had been no way to remove him from the compartment at the time; any attempt would have flooded Engineering section with fatal radiation.

Needless to say, that day had not been going very well for Spock.

The death of his Captain- colleague? friend?- had been more painful than he would have expected as a result of his inability to regulate his emotions when it came to this man. No other human could so effortlessly shatter Spock's shields, and he doubted Kirk had any idea how much power he held over his very Vulcan First. His decision to beam down and find Khan had been illogical at best, downright suicidal at worst, but he had needed to make Khan feel the pain he was feeling at having the other half of himself ripped away.

Spock froze. He obviously required meditation; his emotions were still erratic.

The only thing that had saved Khan from death was Uhura's skill with a phaser. McCoy, the ship's Chief Medical Officer, Kirk's best friend, and a thorn in Spock's side, had then discovered that Khan's blood had regenerative properties that could theoretically be used to bring Kirk back to life, and had promptly had him cryogenically frozen in order to preserve his brain functioning while he had prepared to inject him with Khan's blood. That was the reason Spock was currently standing in a Starfleet hospital in Sam Francisco instead of debriefing the Admirals on the latest mission. He was awaiting news on Kirk.

Once received, the news was substantially better than Spock had been expecting; Kirk was alive, but in a coma. McCoy promised to alert him when Kirk woke up, and Spock left the hospital feeling better than he had since Nibiru. He and the Captain had quite a few discussions ahead that would no doubt be unpleasant, but he was relieved that Starfleet had not lost a highly competent officer. If he was honest with himself, he was also...happy that Kirk had survived. Happiness may be an emotion, but to deny what exists is not logical, and this most illogical of humans had somehow managed to consistently cause emotional reactions in Spock, regardless of meditation or control.

Meanwhile, he had unfinished business with Nyota.


	3. It is an illusion

The first time Spock had met Nyota, he had observed that she was an independent, driven human, who showed a great deal of promise as a Starfleet officer. This assessment had not changed over the course of their relationship; in fact, it was highly likely his respect for her had increased since their initial meeting. Their romantic relationship, however, was proving taxing for both participants. Nyota wanted more attention and emotion than he could give her, and their disagreement in front of Kirk while on the shuttlecraft had addressed only the most urgent issues. For the past two point five six Earth months, their interactions had been strained beyond the level caused by stress, and today Nyota had asked him to come to her apartment, as they had important issues to resolve.

* * *

Nyota was not looking forward to her meeting with Spock today. She didn't want to be the one to cause him unnecessary pain, but their relationship was putting undue stress on both of them. Any more of this and they would begin to experience problems in their working relationship, which Captain Kirk, assuming he pulled through, would not be happy about. It was time for her to be the better man.

* * *

"Come in, Spock." Nyota's voice floated through the door to her apartment. "Have a seat." She gestured to one of two identical armchairs. Spock sat down stiffly.

"I presume, based upon the contents of your earlier message, that this is not simply a social meeting?"

Nyota sighed and out down the tea she had been drinking. She owed it to both of them to not beat around the bush. "You would be correct in your assumption." She glanced down at her tightly clasped hands, gathering her courage, and met Spock's gaze head-on. "I wish to terminate our romantic relationship."

The room was silent.

"I love spending time with you, Spock, and you're a great friend, but we aren't a good match as lovers. We want and need different things."

Spock, who had not moved since Uhura began talking, nodded. "You require a partner more willing to show emotion."

Nyota grasped Spock's hand, but he pulled away from her grasp. "No, Spock. Well, yes, that's part of it, but there are other reasons. We simply have different goals." She smiled bitterly. "Plus, I can't make you feel the way our Captain can. I've never been able to. He seems to have a talent for pressing the right buttons; I have to give him that."

"Nyota-"

"Spock. It's okay. We simply aren't meant for each other. I'm sorry."

Spock stood and walked to the doorway. "In that case, I will see you at 0900 hours for the debriefing tomorrow." He bowed slightly and walked out.

* * *

Once Spock got back to his rooms at Headquarters, the full impact of his conversation with Uhura hit him. He was alone. For the second time in three days, Spock wept.


	4. A comforting lie

The next thirteen days and seventeen hours passed in a haze. Spock had never before understood how time could seem to pass slower than reality, but the days felt longer than their standard twenty-four hours. He met with the Starfleet brass to inform them as to current events, but there was no one there to tell him when he was being too critical of himself or another crewmember or to smooth over awkward places in the conversation. Uhura was not speaking to him currently, a fact he found confusing given that she had been the one to end their relationship. Doctor McCoy was spending every waking hour at Kirk's bedside. Spock had never expected to be missing the company of humans, but he was; it was very un-Vulcan of him, but the past six months has taught him the wisdom of balancing his human and Vulcan sides. These past two weeks had been the most trying days of his life, equal to the day Vulcan was destroyed, and he needed to reestablish his mental shields, as well as find a new center, a new bedrock, for his mind now that Vulcan was gone, but every time he delved deeper than light meditation he was assaulted by the memory of the warp core, the panic he had felt when Scotty had commed the bridge, the desperation at being useless, the pain at watching bright blue eyes grow dim, and he recoiled. Those wounds were too fresh to attempt to force his mind to reconcile them.

Then, Spock received a comm from Doctor McCoy, saying that Kirk was about to wake up, and he ran to the hospital.

* * *

Spock cursed his all-too-human desire to rush right into Kirk's hospital room when he skidded to a stop outside the doorway, nearly running into Doctor McCoy. He had hoped, however illogically, to be able to speak with Jim alone, but it was perfectly understandable for the Doctor to want to talk with his friend. "I apologize, Doctor," he said, begrudgingly. "I was unaware of your presence here." McCoy looked at him in surprise before grinning.

"No need to apologize, Spock. I know you've been worried sick about Jim these past two weeks. And don't go telling me how worry is an emotion and Vulcans do not have emotions- the entire ship knows about what happened down in Engineering at this point, and I'd say you darn well have emotions." McCoy opened the door and stepped through, inviting Spock in with a wave of his hand. "Plus, Jim will be glad you're here."

Spock raised his eyebrows quizzically; while his relationship with the Captain had certainly improved since the Kobayashi Maru hearing, he was unsure as to whether or not Kirk would want to see him immediately upon waking. "Doctor, I assure you that the Captain-"

"Oh, shut it, Spock. I've been watching you interact with the Captain since you stepped on the Enterprise- that's my prerogative as Chief Medical Officer and a friend- and I can tell you that Jim considers you a friend. There's nothing he wouldn't do for you."

Spock winced; the Doctor's words brought to mind still raw memories of a fateful meeting with the late Admiral Pike and the...instance in Engineering. He ruthlessly compartmentalized his feelings. Now was not the time.

Spock turned to see McCoy looking at him with evident concern, and also something resembling thankfulness, but he could not be entirely certain of his conclusion. "It will mean the world to him for you to be here," McCoy whispered, staring at Spock in a way that made him slightly uncomfortable. Suddenly the Doctor resumed a mask of professionalism and turned back to the displays by Kirk's bed. "His vitals are looking good, and the majority of the worst damage seems to be healed. I think we can rouse him now."

Spock nodded. "Very well, then. I bow to your expertise in the medical field."

McCoy turned to him with a grin, hypos pray in hand. "Why Spock, I never thought I'd see the day when you gave me a compliment!" Before Spock had time to combat the presumptuous comment with a spiteful retort, McCoy was pressing the hypospray into Jim's neck, and Spock moved to stand behind McCoy.

One thing Spock had learned while serving with the man currently lying in a hospital bed in front of him was that James Kirk was well-liked by almost everyone, and loved by his entire crew. He exuded light wherever he went, whether it be in a smile directed towards an ensign after a particularly harrowing mission or the easygoing way he commanded the bridge crew. He had a natural command persona that had gotten him through the rough first few months where Spock had occasionally wanted to jump out an airlock because of the lack of first-hand knowledge Kirk had had. Even with the odds against his success, Kirk had come through with the ship intact every time, and he refused to leave a crewmember behind. As a result, the Enterprise was fiercely loyal to her Captain, and Spock was not going to deceive himself by claiming he did not share the same affection for Jim. Regardless, he was not expecting the physiological response the sight of Jim's sleepy half-smile caused; something he could not name unfurled deep in his gut, but he pushed the feeling away to deal with at a later date.

Right now, he needed to prove to himself that he had not lost his friend forever.


	5. told to protect you

Spock barely paid attention to McCoy and Kirk's conversation, only listening when Khan was referenced. He had yet to completely control the rage that manifested itself at the mention of Khan's name; he had been unable to meditate since Jim had died, and his shields were under immense strain. He was aware of McCoy checking Jim's vital signs and of the steady hum of medical equipment, but his primary focus was Jim.

He was alive.

The joy, and yes, it was joy, in the knowledge that Jim was alive had not dissipated in the past two weeks. If anything, it had strengthened, and seeing him awake for the first time since the day they defeated Khan only heightened Spock's previously turbulent emotional state. There was anger, fear, joy, love, worry, jealousy- and it was deeply unsettling for the half-Vulcan that he could not quell the sea of possessive instincts that blindsided him at unsuspecting times. His regard for the Captain went deeper than rank and it scared him beyond belief.

* * *

Vulcans did not do casual friendships, rarely had friends at all, and while the Academy had exposed him to human customs it had not prepared him for this. It had not prepared him for emotions or illogical actions. It had not prepared him for being held in high regard without being torn down. It had not prepared him to feel like he belonged anywhere, much less on a starship full of humans. While the crew of the Enterprise was bound together by their love for the Captain, they all had wounds left by Nero to heal. Many of them had lost irreplaceable relationships when the other ships had been destroyed, even if their planet still existed. They were just beginning to become friends, to rely on each other, to gain a sense of balance, and Khan had destroyed that progress in a single day. In spite of all this, the Enterprise was the closest to a family Spock had experienced since he had left his mother behind on Vulcan to study at Starfleet Academy.

The past six months and two weeks had been difficult for everyone, including, Spock acknowledged, himself. To put it bluntly, their entire world had been dumped on its side and left to rot. Nero and Khan had destroyed their worlds and left a trail of desolation and hopelessness and wistfulness and yearning, especially yearning, in their wake, and no one was immune. In its aftermath, James Tiberius Kirk had saved them from a black hole, literally and metaphorically. He had been a shoulder to cry on. He had been a sympathetic ear. He had been a Starfleet officer. He had been a lifesaver, for the more desperate. He had been a solid center. He had bound them together as a crew and as a cohesive unit, teaching them that maybe nothing was safe and nothing was concrete except the ties that bind them to each other because they were a family, through it all, and there's nothing any of them wouldn't do for their family, and the possible death of that was more than any of them could bear.

The possibility of the Admiralty splitting them all between separate ships, possibly even promotions, was highly probable; Spock knew this. He also knew that there was only one person on the Enterprise who he would be willing to call Captain, but the Admiralty had reassigned them before Khan and there was no reason for them to keep them together now. He was unwilling to accept this outcome.

Captain Kirk, Spock now saw, had redefined their purpose. The Enterprise crew had gone from carefree cadets to hardened adults, and Kirk had taken that change and utilized it. He had often broken regulations, but they were rules that were confining and restrictive. He had taken their hopelessness and wistfulness and yearning and fear and replaced it with hope and excitement, and maybe some bewilderment and loss of control but he always found it again, and he had launched his ship into space with a purpose. Knowledge. Exploration. A greater understanding of their galaxy and its people. Protection. Help. Working together and growing together and being off on a mission in space had taught Spock and the crew that Bones was right, space could be darkness and death and disease, but space could also be free and possibilities and light and stars.

Kirk had taught his crew valuable lessons over the past six months, about grief and loss, about helping others and friendship, about sacrifice, but the lessons Spock had learned from him had forced him to come to a realization that everything was not collapsing around them- that had already happened. Everything would still shake a little from time to time, but they were not on their way to implosion- they had already hit it. The important part of life was not about picking up after the implosion, but instead about using the implosion as momentum. It was as illogical as ejecting the warp core to escape a black hole, but Captain Kirk was not always logical. What he was, however, was a leader, and one Spock would follow anywhere, even into a supernova. Captain Kirk had forced Spock to accept a facet of life that no school could ever teach, and Spock was profoundly grateful to this exceptional human for the example he had provided. That facet, Spock thought as he watched McCoy step away from the biobed to allow him to speak to Jim, was such: illogical actions, made by trustworthy leaders, were worth following, and even though Spock still could not quite grasp that concept, Jim deserved his absolute loyalty.

Spock vowed to give it to him.


	6. Enjoy these final moments

A/N: I'm sorry it's been so long since my last update on this story! I have a few ideas for the next couple chapters, so those should be out soon. As always, hugs and kisses to sherlockian-of-the-shire for everything she does.

* * *

Jim Kirk groaned at the light that flooded his eyelids before regaining enough presence of mind to question where he was. The bed felt too much like a Starfleet-issue Sickbay bunk to be heavenly, and- yup, he could hear Bones yammering about something. Most likely his stupidity and predilection for dangerous and/or suicidal situations. The thought of the lecture he'd have to endure this time almost made him groan again, but McCoy cut him off with an almost audible eye roll and something about him being dead. He responded with a light-hearted comment and kept some form of conversation going, but his true attention was on a shadow hovering just behind Bones.

Spock. It had to be. There was no one else who would want to see him right now, and even Spock was most likely just here to debrief him on his crew and beloved ship. Or to rip him one about his illogical actions when dealing with Khan. Honestly, he had no idea what was going on in the Vulcan's mind; he just knew it would almost certainly be related to his ship.

The memory of his ship reminded him of why, exactly, he was lying on an as yet unidentified bed in an equally unidentified building after having been unconscious for an also unidentified length of time, and it made him cringe. Kirk may not be the most sane of individuals, but even he had no desire to relive the experience with Khan, even in his mind's eye. The decision to save his ship and his crew had been the easiest part of the entire ordeal for him; there was nothing he would not do for the Enterprise or the people on it, who he did consider family, and there was no one who would miss him left alive. Starfleet could easily find a new captain, like they had done with Pike, another ordeal which had hurt him like no other rejection could or ever would. His mother would simply deal with his death like she did with his father's by throwing herself into her work, Bones would probably be happy to get rid of his most problematic patient, Pike was dead, and Spock disliked- that "Vulcans do not show emotion" claim was bullshit- him at best. There really wasn't much he could do that someone else couldn't do better or faster. Jim exhaled softly as Spock stepped forward. Time to face the music.

* * *

One glance at Spock told Kirk that now was not the time for the in-depth conversation they really needed to have, given what had transpired just prior to his death. Right now, they both needed rest- from the looks of it, Spock hadn't been sleeping recently- and time to think, at least he did. He figured Spock must have had something to do with the whole capturing Khan saga that Bones had been muttering about; Bones's body language was pretty easy to read most of the time, which was a dead giveaway. Intellectually, he knew Bones and Uhura and the rest of his (in his opinion) utterly amazing crew had a hand in his survival as well, but the look on Spock's face when he said, "You saved my life," was worth any extra hyposprays McCoy would unfailingly deliver. He did get a murmur of resentment from the good doctor, but it seemed short-lived, and honestly he had more important things to worry about, like why his probably-used-to-be First Officer was standing by his hospital bed honest to God fidgeting with the cuff of his regulation tunic.

Over the course of the past year, Jim's initial intrigue regarding his XO had blossomed into something complex. Their first meeting hadn't gone very well; it had gone terribly, actually, but there was something about Spock that had made Jim curious. Yes, he had been really pissed off about both the hearing and Commander Spock bringing up his dad, but he hadn't hated Spock, and when he had tried to stop him from beaming down to the surface of Vulcan right before it imploded he hadn't done it out of some twisted sense of obligation, but rather out of genuine concern. Taunting him about his mother had been one of the worst experiences of Kirk's life, not only because of the whole strangling issue, and that was saying something considering the crap life had dumped on him since birth. Saving Spock on Nibiru was only one instance in a long line, and sometimes Jim had to wonder if Spock was really as Vulcan as he pretended to be. Even then, though, he still felt inexplicably- well, not exactly, but he didn't want to explore the explanation any farther than the fact that they complimented each other's command style- drawn to his very stiff First Officer. He only hoped Spock didn't still hate him, since, honestly, sometimes he wasn't sure.

"You saved my life, Captain, and the lives of your-" Kirk decided his head hurt too badly to deal with Spock's penchant for disregarding human social customs and just cut him off instead. He'd been working on introducing Spock to the human side of himself, but who knows if it had actually had any impact.

"Spock, just...thank you."

"You are welcome, Jim." Kirk's surprise at hearing his first name come out of Spock's mouth was enough to make him almost fall off his bed- or he would have, if Bones hasn't been fiddling with something right next to his face. He couldn't recall a single time when Spock had called him Jim, especially by choice, and it felt oddly intimate. That shock almost overshadowed the realization that Spock had actually said you're welcome, which Jim counted as a minor victory in Operation Make Spock Comfortable with His Human Heritage Because It Is Awesome. Calling him Jim occupied the status of major victory.

So far, today was a pretty decent day.


	7. Of peace

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read this story! Your support means a great deal. This is the final chapter. A huge round of applause to sherlockian-of-the-shire for her continued support and help.

* * *

Spock swallowed. He knew that he had intense emotional attachment, far more than proper, to his Captain, yet he could not seem to suppress the sob of joy that threatened to overcome him as he nodded slightly and turned to walk out of the room. McCoy joined him roughly fifteen seconds later.

"Well, he seems to be fine, against all odds. I'm gonna keep him here for a few more days to make sure he's actually healed." Bones turned to walk back inside, but stopped at the last minute and fixed Spock with a knowing glance. "He'll want company later."

Spock nodded. "Your diligence in attending to the Captain's health is noteworthy, Doctor, and I thank you. I will be back at 1600 hours." He strode down the hospital hallway towards the turbolift. If he had looked back, he would have seen McCoy frozen, mouth agape, with an expression of absolute surprise on his face.

* * *

At exactly 1600 hours, Spock reappeared outside the doorway to Kirk's room, holding a 3D chess set. The set was old and worn, but obviously cared for meticulously and passed down many generations. It was Vulcan, the pieces themselves made out of smoothly polished stones in bronze and light magenta, and the board constructed from a light brown wood. The heirloom had been given to him by Sarek, his father, two years before he had left Vulcan for Earth to attend Starfleet Academy. His mother used to play against him when he was younger on this board, but their game stopped when Spock grew too old for childish games and focused on his studies. At this time, it was all he had left of his mother.

Even years later, Spock still remembered how to play. He had joined the Chess Club for a year at Starfleet Academy, but it had not provided a suitable intellectual challenge for him and he had begun playing chess only with the computer. Winning was still easy, but an improvement over games with humans. Spock had heard the Captain mention in an off-hand comment to Bones prior to the Khan incident that he used to play chess and wished he could find a suitable partner, since the computer was becoming predictable; as a result, Spock had presumed that Kirk might welcome the diversion today. Also, he was curious as to Kirk's skill level.

* * *

The door opened as Spock stepped forward, and Doctor McCoy glanced up from where he was filling out patient forms. "Hey, Spock," he greeted, nodding his head in the direction of the biobed to his left. "This little punk here has been complaining about boredom for the past hour. I'd be very grateful if you could get him to shut up."

Jim just grinned. "Hey, Spock!" he called. "Oh, is that a 3D chess set? I haven't played on an actual board in years. All my games have been against the computer." He glanced at Spock, who was now standing next to the bed, inquisitively, inclining his head to the side slightly. "How do you know how to play, anyway? I thought it was an Earth game."

If Spock had been human, he would have laughed at the confused expression on Kirk's face. As it was, he merely pulled up a chair and set the chess board down on a table next to the bed. "My mother taught me how to play when I was very young. We used to have weekly matches, but I soon grew out of her skill set and dedicated myself to other pursuits. I played occasionally at Starfleet Academy, but the majority of my games were against the computer because I could not find an adequate playing partner."

Kirk nodded. "I really am sorry about your mom, Spock. I know you really loved her."  
Spock inclined his head in thanks, and Kirk picked up the bronze-colored queen. "Where is this from? The workmanship is exquisite."

"Vulcan. My father gave it to me two years before I left for Earth." Spock took a deep breath. "It is the only remaining object I have from my home planet."

Kirk's eyes widened, almost comically, and he gulped before gently setting the piece down on the board. "I-I-I'm honored, Commander."

Spock picked up a pawn and rolled it in his palm, savoring the feel of the weighty piece. "White or black, Captain?"

"We're off-duty, Spock; you can call me Jim." Kirk grinned. "Black. Or bronze, I'm assuming. When I win, I want it to be without any advantage."

"We will see about that," Spock said as he moved his first pawn. "I do not doubt your ability, but I am unsure if you can beat me."

"I'll prove it, then." Kirk moved his pawn, and the room fell silent, except for the rustle of fabric as Bones collected his files and left his patient in the very capable hands of his XO.

* * *

Five hours, three games, and one loss later, Spock tipped his king in surrender, leaving the score for now squarely in Kirk's favor at 2-1. Jim just smirked. "I told you I could best you."

"Indeed you did, Ki-Jim." Kirk's smirk widened to a genuine smile at the name. "You are a formidable opponent."

"So are you, Spock. Quite the opponent." Kirk hesitated before speaking again. "I'd really like to do this again, if you're up for it."

"I am free at the same time tomorrow." Spock was sure that Kirk's smile could not get any brighter, yet it did. "I am determined to prevail."

Kirk laughed, a light, airy sound that went straight to Spock's gut. "We'll see, Spock. And thanks."

"You are welcome, Jim. I greatly enjoyed it also."

With that, Spock walked out of the room, leaving a somewhat flabbergasted Kirk in his wake, both men looking forward to tomorrow's game and the promise of other games to come.


End file.
